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Unit 5: Niccolo Machiavelli

For Machiavelli, liberty was threatened by human selfishness. It was threatened when one began Notes
to entertain a false notion that personal liberty could be maintained by evading one’s civic
obligations, or redesigning institutions that maximized their personal gain. By doing so, common
good, civic institutions and even personal liberty were subverted.
Machiavelli saw devotion to the public cause as a necessary precondition for claiming and enjoying
private freedom without fear or interference. He thought that great leaders could inspire qualities
in their people. Other measures for inculcating civic virtu were through religion and good laws,
for these constituted the guarantees of liberty. Since an individual was good only by necessity, the
fear of punishment and the coercive power of law would ensure good behaviour, restraining
unruly ambitions. Machiavelli also mentioned the role of a lawgiver, who could enact good laws
to regulate people in the same way that hunger and poverty made them industrious. He somehow
did not think education could play a role in fostering civic virtues.
Machiavelli saw liberty as being possible within the framework of law. Laws ensured the enjoyment
of liberty by all, for they prevented interference and curtailed the corrupt use of wealth. Laws not
only protected individuals from a corrupt leader, but also liberated them from following their
natural self-destructive tendency, namely the pursuit of self-interest. On a comprehensive scale,
Machiavelli recommended the creation of a special magistracy as a guardian of liberty to ensure
that liberty was not violated.
Machiavelli did not distinguish between different forms of government, nor did he attempt to
classify governments. He did not enquire into the nature of political institutions and practices,
though he was convinced that the freedom of an individual could be preserved only in a community
of free people who could freely participate in public offices. He regarded all governments as
defective, for in any case a good government thrived only for a short time, and bad ones by their
nature subverted the state. Like Aristotle, he preferred a mixed constitution, for it was stable and
was the best available option. He saw the Roman republic as a good example of a mixed government,
for the consuls represented the monarchical principle, the senate the aristocratic, and the comitia
and tribunes democratic ideas. As a result, common good was promoted at all times, preventing
factionalism. A mixed constitution preserved the liberty of a virtuous people and provided stability
to the state.
The other way of ensuring that self-interested individuals were willing to risk their lives for the
liberty of their community was to make them take an oath binding them to defend the state at all
costs. This would make them less frightened, and prevent them from shying away from their
duties. If they fought, they might lose their lives, but if they refused, they would have to face the
wrath of the gods.
Machiavelli desired the emulation of the Roman example, whereby a state was established for the
purpose of aggrandizement, but if it had to succeed and be stable, a high level of public spirit was
required. However, he believed that nothing was likely to last long, for everything got corrupted
and degenerated, except perhaps the radical selfishness of the individual. He adhered to a cyclical
view of history where prosperity led to decay and dissolution, resulting in rebirth. States commenced
as monarchies developing into oligarchies, followed by popular governments. A popular
government might lead to a monarchy, but the cycle was rarely exhausted. At some point a state
might fall prey to external aggression.
Machiavelli did not hope for any real or substantial progress for individuals with insatiable
appetites and desires, who remained poor creatures, highly restless and discontented. The unlimited
nature of human wants led to constant aggrandizement and domination, which could not be
avoided partly because of human discontentment, and partly because conflicts and wars ensured
the health of the body politic. Peace, according to Machiavelli, was relaxing and disruptive.
Machiavelli, on the one hand, admired a free, virile and resourceful people, and on the other hand
a strong, powerful and successful leader. While on the one hand he admired a republican form of

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